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Aging & Inflammation

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Aging well is largely about managing inflammation. You will likely feel better and have more energy if your baseline levels of inflammation are lower, and will likely struggle more with aches, pains and low energy when your baseline levels of inflammation are higher. Managing inflammation is essential to aging well, and requires more than anti-inflammatory supplements and down time . Reducing baseline levels of inflammation requires the strategic application of inflammation. Known as hormesis , regular applications of inflammation can lower baseline levels of inflammation. To some small extent, that which doesn’t kill you may well make you stronger. The trick is getting the dose just right, as the dose of inflammation either makes the poison or the medicine. Yes, this is an eBike. I adjust the level of assist to maintain the just-right challenge. Exercise, particularly cardio, is inflammatory. This is among the many reasons why doing cardio is an essential element in aging well. In th
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Pilates and its Anti-Anxiety Effects

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I have found Pilates to be anxiolytic. While all exercise is great for managing the symptoms of anxiety and anxiety-related disorders, I’ve found that Pilates is particularly effective in doing so. As I built my Pilates teaching career, I did a deep dive into neuroscience and physiology as part of my doctoral work. In this graduate-level coursework, I learned more about the body/brain connection, and had a steady stream of lightbulb moments when I connected what I learned to Pilates. I’ve since come to view the physical benefits as a side-effect, with the main benefits of Pilates being mental. Along the way, I’ve identified five systems that are directly impacted by Pilates, and how these five systems downregulate an overactive nervous system and calm an anxious mind. Yes, Pilates is great for developing long, lean muscles. Many celebrities have embraced the practice, enjoying the aesthetically pleasing physique that arises surprisingly quickly. Joe Pilates is quoted as saying “Ten ses
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100,000 Miles on the Tesla

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I've been a car guy  my entire life. Toy cars were my childhood obsession. As a teenager, I somehow took obsessed  to the next level, and literally memorized tracts of my favorite auto repair manuals. (Yes, I had favorite repair manuals). I slightly downregulated these obsessions in my middle years, though I was still keenly aware of the cars around me, gimbaling to lock in on an unfamiliar model or automotive rarity. This Tesla Model Y has been on many roadtrips. When the Tesla Model S came out in 2012, I was swept off my feet by its aesthetics, performance and the underlying technology. Initially Tesla sightings were infrequent, and I employed the unproven technique of staring/not-staring in an inept attempt to avoid stalking the early adopters. Within a few years, however, the more-affordable Model 3 opened the sales flood gates, and it suddenly seemed like Teslas were everywhere. The "Idiot Book" was my favorite repair manual. By the time the Tesla Model Y (the small
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30-years in the Driftless

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Thirty years ago I inadvertently landed in Wisconsin's Driftless Region. Lured by the call of Yoga, community and sustainable agriculture, I found a place that I have called home for the better part of my life. Over Memorial Day Weekend 1994, I made the somewhat impulsive decision to relocate to Blue Mounds, WI; a decision I have not regretted. I was drawn to the Driftless by the 1994 Memorial Day Teacher's Hang Out Weekend The Spring of 1994 was a pivotal time in my life. I'd recently graduated from college, and with a group of friends, co-founded the St. Paul Yoga Center . Despite the path that was unfolding, I felt an itchiness to explore and reevaluate my emerging adult life. I yearned to live closer to the land, and simultaneously felt that the Yoga I practiced and taught was detached from the natural world. The call of the 4th Annual Memorial Day Teacher's Hang Out Weekend could not have come at a more opportune time. It seems almost quaint, now, to receive an inv
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MDFL CARDIO Classes - For Mental and Physical Wellbeing

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More Protein Isn’t Necessarily Better For You

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More isn’t always better. Sometimes more is less and often less is more. In the case of protein, it seems as though there are many voices advocating for more, more, more. I find this deeply puzzling and concerning. To my knowledge, there are not any nutrients that continue conferring benefit beyond a certain threshold. Whether it’s excessive consumption of water (hyponatremia), some nutrients (vitamin toxicity) or sleeping too much (hypersomnia), anything that’s beneficial can ultimately inflect to become harmful. Protein is no exception. As I covered in a prior posting , active people who are working to build muscle thrive on about 1-gram of protein per kilogram of body mass. When people do the arithmetic (1 kilogram = 2.2 pounds), the majority find that they’re consuming significantly more protein than their body has any use for. And many people thrive with far less than 1-gram of protein per kilogram of body mass! This lunch supplied about 1/3 of my daily protein needs More isn’t al
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Quantifying Lean Mass

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One of the first order treatments for osteoarthritis in the knees is weight loss . However, muscle mass also protects knees, so losing weight by losing muscle isn't the ticket in working with high-mileage knees. The trick in working with high-mileage knees is losing fat while maintaining or even building muscle. I've been thinking about this conundrum, and felt that I needed more information. As many of you know, I'm more than a little geeky, and I knew that dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scans provide a high-resolution view of body composition. Unfortunately, my primary care doc only knew of DEXA scans as screens for bone loss, and was unaware of the many body-composition insights that can be provided by a whole body DEXA scan. To access the information only a DEXA scan can provide, I'd have to find a provider and pay for it out of pocket. Does this DEXA scan make my feet look fat? I consulted Professor Google, and found a nearby facility that offered what see
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